Bhairava: The Wrathful

by Phil Hine

CONTENTS

Bhairava (The Wrathful) is one of
the more terrifying aspects of Shiva. He is often depicted with
frowning, angry eyes and sharp, tiger's teeth and flaming hair;
stark naked except for garlands of skulls and a coiled snake
about his neck. In his four hands he carries a noose, trident,
drum, and skull. He is often shown accompanied by a dog.

In this short essay I will examine this particular aspect of
Shiva and the central legend (which has numerous variants) which
concerns this deity.

Bhairava is Shiva at his most terrifying, at his most fearful.
He may be understood as a particular manifestation, or emanation
of Shiva, or as Shiva displaying himself at a very high level. In
some myths, Shiva created Bhairava as an extension of himself, in
order to chastise Brahma. Bhairava is the embodiment of fear, and
it is said that those who meet him must confront the source of
their own fears. His name describes the effect he has upon those
who behold him, as it derives from the word bhiru, which
means to become fearful - of feeling great fear. In some sources,
Bhairava himself is said to have eight manifestations, including Kala
(black), Asitanga (with black limbs), Sanhara
(destruction), Ruru (hound), Krodha (anger), Kapala
(Skull), Rudra (storm) and Unmatta (raging). Dogs
(particularly black dogs) were often considered the most
appropriate form of sacrifice to Bhairava, and he is sometimes
shown as holding a severed human head, with a dog waiting at one
side, in order to catch the blood from the head.

The cycle of legends which particularly relate to this
primordial god tells of the encounter between Bhairava and a
group of forest-dwelling sages. The events which lead up to it
can be briefly summarised as follows: Brahma, the Creator, lusted
after his mind-borne daughter, and grew four heads in order that
he might continually see her. In creating these four heads,
Brahma divided the world into the four directions, due to his
desire for that which no longer was within himself. It is said by
some that Brahma's desire for his daughter was caused by Kama
(desire) who was born to madden and delude people, a task for
which Brahma gave him magical arrows, which he immediately tested
upon the Creator himself. Embarrassed by the attentions of
Brahma, his daughter, who is known by many different names,
ascended heavenwards. This provoked Brahma to manifest a fifth
head, the quintessence of the other four, and reached out to
'cohabit' with his daughter. Upon seeing this, Shiva cut off the
fifth head of Brahma with his sword (in some versions of the myth
Bhairava merely uses the nail of his left thumb).

In this act of murder, Shiva-Bhairava became 'Kapalin' or
skull-carrier, a name which also refers to a particular tantric
sect which I will turn to shortly. The skull of Brahma's fifth
head became stuck to his hand and although himself a god,
Shiva-Bhairava had to somehow expiate his sin and, in order to do
so, Bhairava became the Supreme Beggar, the archetype of the
Kapalika, who is divine, yet debased. Bhairava took upon himself
the Kapalika vow, which was to wander the world, begging alms,
until the skull fell from his hand. It was whilst he was
wandering through a great forest that Bhairava encountered a
group of ascetic sages.

The sages practiced austerities and tended a sacred fire, and
they did not recognise Shiva-Bhairava, who appeared as a naked
mendicant, carrying only the skull-bowl. He howled and danced,
appearing as a madman with a black face. Not only did this
startling apparition disturb the rites of the sages, he also
attracted their women to him. The sages cursed the lingam of this
supreme beggar, and it fell, transformed into a pillar of fire.
Some variants of the legend say that another linga appeared to
replace that which had fallen, and when the sages saw it, it too
was cursed, and fell to earth in a blaze of fire, only to be
replaced instantaenously by another linga, which in turn too was
cursed, and so on. In another, after the linga fell, Bhairava
vanished. In a third version, Bhairava leaves the forest,
accompanied by the frenzied women of the sages. He appears at the
house of Vishnu, whereupon his passage is barred by Visvaksena,
Vishnu's doorkeeper, who does not recognise Bhairava. The
unfortunate doorkeeper is slain by Bhairava, using a trident (the
weapon commonly associated with Shiva). Vishnu then caused blood
to spurt from his forehead, in an attempt to fill the skull-bowl
which Bhairava carried. Bhairava dances on, carrying the corpse
of Visvaksena and a skull full of the blood of the preserver,
until he reaches the holy city of Varanasi (Banaras), after which
he is liberated from the skull vow.

This legend, complex as it is, is woven around the crime of
brahminicide - the killing of a Brahmin. A study of the vedic law
books will show that the prescribed penance for the killing of a
Brahmin involves the criminal living alone in the forest, living
on alms, confessing his deed as he begs, and carrying always a
staff and a skull - occasionally it is specified that such an
individual should use as an alms bowl the skull of the brahmin he
has killed. Such a penance could last for twelve years. Such
penances sound very similar to the vows of ascetic,
forest-dwelling sadhus.

Bhairava is one of those paradoxical figures of Indian myth -
he has broken all fetters. He has severed one of the heads of the
Creator, killed the doorkeeper of Vishnu, the preserver; he
dances naked, accompanied by women (and in some versions of the
myth, Vishnu), and he appears as a figure of horror and ecstasy.

The forest myth- cycle also clearly displays the wild aspects
of Siva. He humiliates the ascetic sages in the forest, who are
practising austerities; he seduces their wives and, by the
falling of his lingam, causes holy places to manifest on the
earth.

"On the mountain there is a wonderful forest
called the forest of Dâru, where many sages live
Shiva himself, assuming a strange form, came there to put
their faith to the test. He was magnificent, completely
naked, his only ornament the ash with which his whole body
was smeared. Walking about, holding his penis in his hand, he
showed off with the most depraved tricks."

" . Sometimes he danced lasciviously; sometimes
he uttered cries. He wandered around the hermitages like a
beggar. Despite his strange appearance and his tanned
colour, the most chaste women were attracted to him. They
let their hair fall loose. Some rolled on the ground. They clung
to each other and, barring [Rudra's] path, they made wanton
gestures at him, even in the presence of their husbands.

The sages cried, this Shiva who carries a trident has a
body of ill omen. He has no modesty. He is naked and
ill-made. He lives in the company of evil spirits and wicked
goblins."- (Shiva Purana, quoted in Daniélou p55-56).

One of the key elements of the forest myth is the sages' curse
against Shiva's phallus, which in some versions, strikes the
earth as a blazing pillar, and is then regenerated by the god.
The sages curse again, and another flaming pillar strikes the
earth whilst Shiva's phallus is 'reborn' - which again, in turn,
is cursed. In another popular version, the cursed phallus becomes
an immense pillar which pierces and fills all of the Three
Worlds. (The 3 worlds - again recalls the importance of
triplicities in Tantric magic. The 'piercing' of the 3 worlds or
cities is a theme which recurs time and time again in tantric
magical texts & practices.)

According to the Shiva Purana, the sages, once they had
recognised Shiva, approached him reverently. Shiva replied that:

"The world shall not find peace until a receptacle is
found for my sexual organ. No other being except the Lady of the
Mountain may seize hold of my sexual organ. If she takes hold of
it, it will immediately become calm."

(op cit, p63)

In The Linga Purana, Brahma himself instructs the sages in the
reverence of Shiva's phallus:

"As long as this phallus is not in a fixed
position, no good can come to any of the three worlds. In
order to calm its wrath, you must sprinkle this divine sexual
organ with holy water, build a pedestal in the form of a
vagina and shaft (symbol of the goddess) and install it with
prayers, offerings, prostrations, hymns and chants
accompanied by musical instruments. Then you shall invoke the
God, saying 'You are the source of the Universe, the origin
of the Universe. You are present in everything that exists.
The Universe is but the form of yourself, O Benevolent One!
Calm yourself and protect the world.'"

In the Tamil Kanda Puranum, Shiva tests the forest
sages by appearing with a beautiful courtesan, Mohini, by his
side. This courtesan, Daniélou explains, is actually the God
Vishnu, whom Shiva has commanded to take this form ( Shiva had
commanded Vishnu to take on this form on an earlier occasion, in
order that Shiva might seduce Vishnu). In this form of the
legend, the sages abandon their austerities to follow the
disguised Vishnu everywhere, whilst Shiva, as the divine Beggar,
seduced the women of the sages. In this version, the sages and
their wives are brought together in the forest and realise that
they have been tricked by Shiva and Vishnu. The sages summon a
tiger which springs forth to attack Shiva. He kills the tiger and
seizes it's skin to use as a garment. There then came a fire,
which the god made into a trident; an antelope, which he took
with his left hand, and snakes, which he used to adorn his
head-dress. Demons then sprang at Shiva. He calmed them with a
hand-gesture, and they agreed to serve him. All the magics of the
sages could not prevail against Shiva, and the sages finally
agreed to practise the rites of Shiva's cult.

The forest sages have lost sight of the goal of their
austerities and rites - release from bondage. They have become
bound up by conventions. The sages, interrupted by Shiva, are
outraged by his behaviour. They are performing their rites and
austerities out of a sense of lust for the power and 'merit' they
will gain from doing so, not as a means to liberation. They do
not see that Bhairava-Shiva breaks all boundaries and conventions
precisely because he is beyond them.

Stella Kramrisch notes that not all who behold Shiva as the
Supreme Beggar see him in quite the same way. By turns, Shiva
baffles, enrages, seduces, sows confusion, and illuminates. He
reveals to his devotee, his bhakta, in the shape and
extent to which they are 'ready' to experience him.

"Having severed the head of the Creator and killed
the guardian of of the house of the Sustainer of creation,
Bhairava had cut through all fetters. Horrendous, abject,
naked, or in rags that emphasized his nakedness,
self-contradictory and consistent with his unspeakable being,
with an entrancing smile on his lips he bared his fangs. The
images of the Lord show him young and in glory as
Bhiksatanamurti, the Supreme Beggar. They show him as
Kankalamurti, carrying the impaled by of Visvaksena; or
emiacated and deathlike in his image as Bhairava; or stern,
bloated, his matted hair surrounded by flames, fiercly
ponderous, and black as Kala or Mahakala."- Stella Kramrisch, The Presence of Siva

In his display of contradictions, his suffering of the curse
of the sages and their subsequent illumination, Shiva-Bhairava is
expiating his Kapalika vow - that of carrying the head of Brahma.
When Bhairava reaches the holy city of Varanasi, the skull falls
from the hand of Shiva, and shatters into a thousand pieces. The
ecstatic pilgrimage over, Bhairava is released from the fetters
of his own making.

Bhairava is also said by some to be a gambler's deity. R.N
Saletore (1981) recounts the following prayer addressed to
Bhairava, by a gambler:

"I adore thee that sittest naked with thy head resting
on thy knee; thy moon, thy bull and thy elephany-skin having been
won at play by Devi. When the gods give all powers at thy mere
desire and when thou art free from longings, having for thy only
possession the matted locks, the ashes and the skull, how canst
thou suddenly have become avaricious with regard to hapless me in
that thou desirest to disappoint me for a small gain? Of a truth,
the wishing tree no longer gratifies the hopes of the poor, as
thou dost not support me, Lord Bhairava, though thou supportest
the world

Thou hast three eyes, I have three dice, so I am like thee
in one respect; thou hast ashes on thy body, so have I; thou
eatest from a skull, so do I; show me mercy."

The Kapalikas were a sub-sect of the Pasupatas. They went
naked, used a human skull as a food-bowl, bathed in the ashes
from cremations, and were believed to commit human sacrifice.
Naturally, they inspired fear and distaste in the orthodox. The
term 'Kapalika' can be translated as "bearer of the
Skull-Bowl," and these sadhus worshipped Bhairava, as the
Supreme Beggar and emulated his kapala vow. Perhaps, like other
Indian Sects, the Kapalikas believed that great magical power
could be transferred by taking on the penances of Bhairava.
Through this identification with the god, the Kapalikas took on
his powers. Like other sects who focus upon one deity (or aspect
thereof), the Kapalikas held Bhairava to be the
creator-preserver-destroyer of the Universe, and chief of all the
gods.

R.N. Saltore recounts a legend that Bhairava once took up
residence in the mouth of Goraknath (co-founder of the Natha Sect
of Tantrikas and credited with laying the foundations of Hatha
& Kundalini Yoga) and performed 'religious austerities'
there. Goraknath was almost choked, and only managed to expel
Bhairava by extolling his glory. Saletore takes this legend as an
indication of a possible connection between the Nathas and
Kapalikas, which is also noted in passing by M. Magee (author of
Tantra Magick, Tantric Astrology, and numerous translations of
tantric texts) in his Natha FAQ [see
MikeMagee@magee.demon.co.uk].

It seems that yogis of the Kapalika sect were somewhat feared,
having a reputation for possessing awesome magical powers, but
reputed to carry off women and ensnare victims for human
sacrifice.

In the Prabodha Chandrodaya, the following words are
attributed to a wizard of the Kapalikas:

"My necklace and ornaments are of human bones; I
dwell among the ashes of the dead and eat my food in human
skulls. I look with eyes brightened with the antinomy of
Yoga, and believe that the parts of this world are
reciprocally different, but that the whole is not different
from God. ...After fasting we drink liquor out of the skulls
of Brahmans; our sacred fires are fed with the brains and
lungs of men mixed up with their flesh, and human beings
covered with the fresh blood gushing from the dreadful wound
in their throats, are the offerings by which we appease the
terrible god (Maha Bhairava)."

In classical literature, Kapalikas are occasionally mocked,
appearing as drunkards or evil sorcerors. This view of the
Kapalikas as drunkards is, at least on the surface, reinforced by
the following quote from the Kulanarva Tantra:

"The adept should drink, drink and drink again
until he falls to the ground. If he gets up and drinks again,
he will be freed from rebirth. His happiness enchants the
goddess, Lord Bhairava delights in his swooning, his vomiting
pleases all the gods."

The skull carried by the Kapalika devotee was identified with
that of Brahma, and used for eating and drinking from. David
Lorenzen, in The Kapalikas and Kalamukhas (1972), feels
that it was unlikely that the Kapalika devotee would resort first
to brahminicide in order to obtain the 'right sort' of skull,
although he does say that the skull carried had to be that of a
man of noble caste. However, bearing in mind the Kapalikas'
reputation for conducting human sacrifice, and their occasional
martial ardour, we might draw our own conclusions as to the
possible role of ritual murder in the cult's rituals.

The basis of Kapalika devotion appears to have been bhakti in
the form of personal devotion to Bhairava. If the critics of the
cult are to be believed, then the foremost method of ritual
propitiation of Bhairava was through animal or human sacrifice.
It was (and probably remains) widely believed that a human
sacrifice, being extremely gratifying to primordial deities such
as Bhairava or Candika, removes all transgressions from him who
makes the offering. Self-sacrifice through austerities, practice
of mental and physical disciplines and occasional
self-mutilations, also appear to have been practised within the
Kapalika cult. Since Bhairava, in the legends, appears to be very
much of an ecstatic figure, one might conclude that his worship
also included dionysiac revelry. There are also numerous
allusions made to the effect that puja employing corpses was part
of the cult's practice. Whilst many of these reports are
doubtless biased, such practices are well within the corpus of
legends relating to Shiva-Bhairava's love of corpse-grounds, and
the legions of ghouls, spirits, ghosts and demons who attend him
therein. In addition, it is clear that Kapalins practiced
Sex-magical rites and sought the siddhis (achievements - i.e.
magical powers) through the practices of Hatha yoga, and, as
already noted, were known as sorcerors of much (though often
ill-) repute.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I would suggest that the forest myth is central to unravelling
the mysteries of Shiva-Bhairava. Daniélou uses this myth-cycle
to draw our attention to the similarity of Shiva's primordial
cult and the Dionysian mysteries of ancient Greece. It should
also be noted that some Tantric sects have always mocked the
practice of extreme austerities or conventional rituals for their
own sake, and this is again reflected in Bhairava's testing of
the forest sages. Also, like many divine dramas, the consequences
of the Lord's acts have wide ramifications. By severing the head
of Brahma, Shiva must, in order to expiate his sin, manifest in
the world. As a result of his visit to the forest, Shiva's cult
is strengthened and holy places exist upon the earth.
Deliberately acting drawing upon oneself the disfavour of others,
as an aid to one's own liberation (and that of others) is an
ancient technique in Indian magic, as practiced for example, by
the Pasupati Sect of Shaivites, to whom the Kapalikas have been
historically related.

In considering the question of magical work with Bhairava, we
might take a bone from the corpse of Kapalika sadhana, as it
were. Intoxicated identification with the god through dance,
perhaps whilst visualizing oneself undergoing the forest
encounter with the sages and their women would seem to be an
obvious basis for Bhairava devotion, ending in exhaustion. As in
all forms of bhakti, all acts of will and gnosis may be offered
to the god, particularly sexual gnosis. Whilst one may deduce
from the above that Bhairava devotion requires a healthy attitude
to sensual hedonism, especially in terms of drinking and
screwing, it should be remembered that such elements are not
without their 'initiated' levels of interpretation. The Kapalikas
were often characterised as licentious hedonists, but like many
other tantric sects, there was much more to them than met the
eye.

I would also suggest that offering oneself (i.e. ego-complex
or core identifications) as sacrifice to Bhairava could become
the basis for a monasticism based around the deliberate
transgression of personal taboos and boundaries. In general
though, one should avoid too literal an emulation of Kapalika
practices and vows; for one thing, you just can't get the parts
these days!